Stories From Small Nonprofits:ChildFund International

12/15/2009

The holidays are a time to give back to others. In that spirit, Diva Marketing is highlighting the stories of smaller nonprofits through out December. It's my wish that together we can help raise their
visibility, perhaps find a new volunteer or even encourage a donation or two.
Because as Laura King Edwards, Taylor's Tale, says, "Nothing should stand in the way of a dream." Also the nonprofits that are using social media have agreed to share their strategies so we continue to learn together.

Story told
by Virginia Sowers, Community
Manager, ChildFund International. For
more than 70 years, ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children’s
Fund) has been inspired and driven by the potential that is inherent in all
children; the potential not only to survive but also to thrive, to become
leaders who bring positive change for those around them.

We help
deprived, excluded and vulnerable children around the world and in the United States to improve their capacity to
improve their lives and have the opportunity to become young adults, parents
and leaders who bring lasting and positive change to their communities.

We believe
that change must be child-centered. Our distinctive approach focuses on working
with children throughout their journey from birth to young adulthood, as well
as with families, local organizations and communities globally to create
environments children need to thrive.

Our work
would not be possible without the generosity of our child sponsors and donors,
and we are most grateful for their support.

Social Media

We have used social media extensively as part of our
rebranding effort that began last July. In changing our organization’s name to
ChildFund International (to align with the ChildFund Alliance), we have found
social media to be an important tool to communicate the name change, build the
ChildFund brand and also engage more interactively with our supporters.

In July, we launched a Twitter campaign. For every 200
followers we attracted on Twitter, an anonymous donor would provide a gift to
country in which ChildFund worked. For example, one gift was a goat to a family
in The Gambia. We shot video of the goat’s arrival and shared that back through
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. We gained 2,200 followers in the two-week
campaign, resulting in 11 gifts to vulnerable children.

We also ran a Twitter event this fall. In conjunction with
the 20th anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child on Nov. 20,
we invited Twitter followers to tweet on a right they believed children should
have for healthy development. After a set time, we voted on the top 5 tweets
and put those back out on Twitter for a bit of competitive retweeting. We’re
about to announce the top 2 tweets (as based on the number of retweets). Those
two individuals are receiving a coffee table book with photographs of children
around the world.